I agree the compact generator heads are much better for some specific applications like you mentioned and I'm not about to give up my AcuteB2's (which I love) for these lights but they sure make a great accompaniment and hence my comment about Profoto miss selling by aiming at speedlite shooters. TTL would put lots of pros off these lights but the controller and lights offer much more than the way Profoto are marketing these lights as the equivalent of setting the camera to programme mode.
I have been itching after some more Acutes for a while but put off by the lack of Air control like all the newer Profoto gear now has. I thought this release was going to be a digital AcuteB3 but mono heads could be a better solution for me especially for the industrial stuff I shoot where cables are always a big hazard.
I think I understand their speed-light strategy. There has been a real "stobist" movement towards using speed-lights for their TTL ability when shooting in quick changing situations ... something I never quite understood or bought into because you either have to jack up the ISO (and lower the IQ), or gang a bunch of speed-lights into one modifier to get anywhere near enough light ... then pound the crap out of the speed-lights in any extended shooting situation.
I freely admit to trying that myself for a portrait gig with some little kids ... all it did was trip the speed-light's thermal protection and shut the key speed-light down for 10 minutes while it cooled down. So, the first time I tried it was the last time. 10 minutes was an eternity with a bunch of squirmy rug-rats waiting for me to get up and running again. :thumbdown:
My main use of the Acute B kit is on a painter's pole with a TTL speed-light in the hot-shoe for fill ... total mobility. Control from the camera isn't an issue since an assistant is working the B 600 pack and boom-pole, I just indicate up or down for any adjustment. I want a second Acute 600B because I could plug in the Acute Bi-Tube and put out 1200 W/s when needed.
My main unit is a Hensel Porty 1200L which does have Profoto AIR built in, and unlike the 600B can be adjusted from the camera using the AIR transmitter. I favor it because I have a few nifty heads that plug into that pack ... like a Carbon Fiber ring-light and a true Fresnel head.
However, as I am backing off the commercial work, I probably should re-think all this and maybe pare it all down to D1s and a couple of these B1s, and stick with the one 600B.
It's always something to ponder with these technological leaps
- Marc